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A cat-and-mouse game at the season opener in Madrid

Valladolid is the chief candidate for relegation, they have completed the roster just recently, played just two preseason games and it's a great enigma how much are they worth at the moment. For real this is a tryout for Zalgiris and the Euroleague that they play on Friday.

This is a game of the first round that should have been played last weekend, like all the other games, but was postponed due to Real's sponsorship commitments and the trip to China to play Beijing Ducks. Real won that 92:86, ahd a long trip home, a rest over the weekend and time to prepare for the start of the league. Tomorrow they'll be up in the air again, traveling to Kaunas where Zalgiris awaits them at the Euroleague opener.

- We are playing our first match in the Endesa league, always difficult, it being a debut and against a rival that has completed the roster last, with a lot of new players who are new to the league too - said coach Pablo Laso on the official Real Madrid web page.

- Last season they staretd with a win at Barcelona, and in this competition all the matches are hard from the very beginning of the season. We have to respect the opponent. You must always give 100 % to win, and that's something we plan to do in front of our supporters.

Laso has no prblems with injuries and absences, the team is complete and already they look well-played-in. They changed just two players from the last season. Bourusis is already stable as the starting center, with him on the team they already won the Supercup in Vitoria, demolishing Bilbao and winning over Barcelona in the final. Rudy Fernandez is in good form, Llull and Sergio Rodriguez are probably the best playmaking duo in the whole Europe, maybe matched just by Teodosic and Jackson from CSKA. They look mighty and surely they will want to show that for the first time in Madrid this season.

Laso emtioned valaldolid's last season opener. Nobody was giving them half a chance in barcelona, and yet the won in the Palau Blaugrana. This summer was for them hard, difficult and painful. The team was completed some ten days ago. The head coach took over the club, we cannot say the team for there was no team than, in mid-September, and because of that tehy have no preseason games. They played just two games closed to the npublic, won over second-leaguer Palencia and lost by 23 to Laboral Kutxa.

In such a sitiuation, what to expect in an away game against Spanish champions and one of the chief Euroleague favorites? That is the question that probably even coach Ricard Casas has no answer to:

- I have not yet solved who's gonna be in the starting five in Madrid - admitted Casas for the local paper El Norte de Castilla.

- Physically we are in good shape and we go to Madrid to compete.

Valladolid has seven new players, regarding last season tehy might be even stronger in rebounding for they are well-filled in the paint, despite the departure of the best one in the last season Nacho Martin to Gran Canaria. But they need a month of preparations, that all the others had, and they are missing that.

- We don't go to Madrid just to spend the game time there. We go to see what can be done and try to use our chances. Last year we managed to surprise Barcelona after 6-7 preseasoners, this year we had just two, but you never know - says Casas calmly.

- Real has a wide roster with plenty of great players, but we go on not dependent on that, we'll try to realize our ideas.

No team has any absences.

I was never particularly fond of such high spreads but every situation is different and so is this one. Valladolid are the biggest enigma at the start of the ACB League, a team that basically gathered last week. There were players from September but as a team they exist for around 10 days. They played only one real preparation match, behind closed doors, and lost against Laboral Kutxa with 23 points difference. As that match was a test for some players, a check whether they will stay or no, I suppose they played at their maximum. Real Madrid are currently better than Laboral Kutxa for 10 to 15 points of difference. Last season I wrote a spread for Valladolid as well in the first round at Barcelona and they won. They surprised the big favorites. Then in the first home match they lost by 25 points margin - against Real. Now Valladolid are much less ready and I would say weaker. The coach of Real warns about that match of Valladolid and Barcelona. Furthermore, if a team is worth playing for high wins, than it's Real. They have such a wide squad that it might seem to you it is not important who will be a substitute and who is on the court. Around 10 days ago they won against Bilbao in Supercup by 39 points margin although the first quarter was equal. They are grinding constantly and they don't have bad a player in their rotation and I really believe that this match tonight can go to 30.